What is Sardine used for in Stardew Valley? How can you catch it and where? Find out everything you need to know about this fish in this complete guide.
Fish come in different shapes and sizes in the game. You can find them in any river, lake, and ocean in Pelican Town, but some places have a higher rate of success than others. When you catch a fish, you can use it as a cooking ingredient, sell it, or let it reproduce so you can earn more.
Sardine is one of the most common fish you can catch with fishing rods, including the iridium rod. It’s a lot easier to catch than tiger trout, bream, walleye, red snappers, sea cucumbers, or even pufferfish. Read on to learn the secrets of this marine creature in this guide.
What is a Sardine?
This sea animal can be found in diverse places depending on the time of the year. Since it’s one of the most common fishes in the game, it’s easier to catch than most types. Its difficulty level is at 30 and has a Dart behavior. Its size ranges from one inch to 13 inches.
Consuming it will restore your health and energy. See the table below for comparison of its effects from various qualities.
| Quality | Energy | Health |
| Normal | +13 | +5 |
| Silver | +18 | +8 |
| Gold | +23 | +10 |
| Iridium | +33 | +14 |
Where to Catch a Sardine?
While it’s easier to hook than other marine animals, it’ll be helpful to take note of these conditions. Using Magic Bait will also allow you to catch it regardless of the season, weather, or time of day.
| Location | Season | Time | Weather |
| The Beach | • Spring • Fall • Winter | 6am – 7pm | Any |
You can also buy it randomly at the Traveling Cart. The price ranges from 120g to 1,000g.
Fish Pond
Marine animals will reproduce every two days, which initially gives you three fish. You can increase your fish pond’s capacity up to ten if you complete three quests.
Item Requests
While your pond only produces three fish at first, you just have to fulfill the following item requests to increase the capacity of your pond. The table below shows you what items are requested at each capacity increase.
| Initial Capacity | Item Requested | Fishing XP | Improved Capacity |
| Three | • Driftwood (3) • Frozen Geode (1) • Seaweed (1-2) | +30 | Five |
| Five | • Clams (2) • Coral (2) | +30 | Seven |
| Seven | • Aquamarine (2) • Mussel (1) • Sea Urchins (2) | +30 | Ten |
Loots
Placing Sardines in a pond will produce blue Roe. The chances of producing it varies according to the population of your pond. See the table below for a complete comparison of item percentage and production chances.
| Item | Population | Item Percentage | Chance | Fishing XP |
| Roe (1) | 1-4 | 70% | 16-33% | +12 |
| Roe (1) | 5-10 | 100% | 55-95% | +12 |
| Nothing | 1-4 | 30% | 84-67% | |
| Nothing | 5-10 | 0% | 45-5% |
Selling Prices
Selling Sardines cost 40g each. However, it can be higher depending on its quality and if you have Fisher (+25%) or Angler (+50%) professions. Its Roe and Aged Roe can also be sold at higher prices with the Artisan Professions (+40%). This table shows a detailed comparison:
| Quality | Selling Price | With Fisher | WIth Angler | Roe | Aged Roe | With Artisan |
| Normal | 40g | 50g | 60g | 50g | 100g | 140g |
| Silver | 50g | 62g | 75g | |||
| Gold | 60g | 75g | 90g | |||
| Iridium | 80g | 100g | 120g |
Crafting
You can also use it to craft Quality Fertilizer, an item that increases your chances of growing quality crops. You can use any fish to craft it, together with another ingredient which you will see below.
| Item | Crafting Source | Ingredients |
| Quality Fertilizer | Farming Level 9 | • Sap (2) • Sardine (1) |
Sell this for 10g at regular quality and 15g when made with Qi Seasoning.
Cooking
There are also recipes you can cook using this marine creature. The table below shows the different meals you can make with it along with other ingredients, and the restoration benefits and selling prices of each.
| Recipe | Ingredients | Energy | Energy with QS | Health | Health with QS | Buff + Duration | Buff + Duration with QS | Selling Price | Selling Price with QS | Recipe Source |
| Dish O’ The Sea | • S (2) • Hashbrowns (1) | +125 | +225 | +56 | +100 | Fishing (+3), 5m 35s | Fishing (+4), 11m 10s | 220g | 330g | Fishing Level 3 |
| Maki Roll | • S (1) • Seaweed (1) • Rice (1) | +100 | +180 | +45 | +81 | N/A | N/A | 220g | 330g | • The Queen of Sauce, 21 Summer Year 1 • Stardrop Saloon for 300g |
| Sashimi | • S (1) | +75 | +135 | +33 | +59 | N/A | N/A | 75g | 112g | • Linus, Mail at 3 Hearts |
Tailoring
You can use it in the spool of the Sewing Machine to create a Sailor Shirt, which is dyeable. It also acts as a blue dye when you use it at the dye pots in Emily’s and Haley’s house, which you can find at 2 Willow Lane.
Gifting
Evelyn, Haley, and Pierre hate Sardines while Demetrius, Elliott, Leo, Pam, Sebastian, Linus, and Willy feel neutral about it. Abigail, Alex, Caroline, Clint, Dwarf, Emily, George, Gus, Harvey, Jas, Jodi, Kent, Krobus, Leah, Lewis, Marnie, Maru, Penny, Robin, Sam, Sandy, Shane, Vincent, and Wizard all dislike receiving it as a gift.
Quests
You’ll need this for the following quests:
- Item Delivery. During Spring, Fall, or Winter, the “Help Wanted” board at Pierre’s General Store may randomly ask you for one Sardine. The reward is 120g and 150 Friendship points.
- Fishing. Demetrius or Willy may ask you for one to five pieces of Sardines in the Spring, Fall, or Winter at the “Help Wanted” board. You’ll gain 40g for each fish and you’ll also get to keep them.
- Aquatic Overpopulation. Demetrius may request ten Sardines at the special orders board at Lewis’ house in Spring. The reward is gold equivalent to its selling price.
- Fish Pond quest (Midnight Squid). It’s requested to increase the capacity of the FP from five to eight.
- Fish Pond quest (Squid). It’ll be needed to increase the capacity of the FP from five to ten.
Bundles
It completes the Ocean Fish Bundle in the Fish Tank. This bundle also requires Tuna, Red Snapper, and Tilapia, and will give you five Warp Totem: Beach as a reward once you’ve completed it.
